Dig into the benefits of gardening, it's one of life's simple pleasures

Every morning I head outside to my garden to check on their progress, which has been slow due to the cooler days, I suspect.

But this week, with temperatures hitting the 30s, there's finally been some action in my garden. It's the only action I'm getting.

Suddenly, the zucchinis are thickening up, a few tomatoes have started to blush, the birds and the bees are doing their thing, it's nature at its finest.

I worry though, that my sudden interest in my garden has something to do with my accumulation of years. It's like bird-watching. Suddenly a simple bird becomes a red-breasted nuthatch. Suddenly a humble zucchini is no longer a versatile vegetable great in fritters, it's a whole barometer of your worth as a human being.

I don't know where my interest has stemmed from. See what I did there.

I'd call it an interest. It's not quite a passion. I decided years ago that it was okay not to be passionate about anything. Who has the energy?

I didn't grow up in an environment where my family placed much emphasis on growing things.

We never had a vegetable garden; our garden, if you could call it that, consisted of some sparse lawn overgrown with bindi eyes. The roses along the driveway were removed in the first week my parents bought the house, my father citing some kind of allergy that I supposedly had. More likely he was allergic to their upkeep. There was one cherry tree in the backyard which, while it never produced any fruit, would bloom gloriously pink every spring, a lone reminder that nature is indeed a miraculous thing.

It was only after my sister and I left home that my father took more interest in gardening. He planted a whole field of corn in the backyard, the giant stalks swaying in the wind, golden cobs ripe for the picking in the heat of summer.

Corn was one of the first things I planted in my garden when I moved to my new house, with a laughing nod to dad. Since then I've had success with carrots and beans, spinach, tomatoes and zucchinis in previous years. I've more mint than you poke a mojito at. I'm throwing a couple of sprigs of rosemary onto everything I roast.

I'm proud to call it a garden, even though it's a smallish courtyard. Foxy's Landscapes did a great job in the small space. It's green and lush and watching it change each season is a reminder that my life is changing too. I own three trees.

One of my proudest moments in life was convincing colleague Susan Parsons to visit for her Food & Wine column, Kitchen Garden. Are you really a Canberran if Susan hasn't poked around in your garden? I like to think my efforts surprised her a little.

I enjoyed pulling together this story for Relax, an extract from Thrifty Gardening, a collection of tips and tricks from the Country Women's Association of Victoria.

MORE BY: KAREN HARDY

I've already made note that I can clear the powdery mildew from the zucchini leaves with a spray-on mixture of full-cream milk and water. I'm proud I harvested the garlic at the right time as the outer leaves started to turn yellow.

Garlic! I still can't believe I grew my own garlic. And plaited them like some Italian nonna, able to head out to the barn - okay, out to the garage - where they hang on an old coat-hanger, as I need them to cook.

Which is what it all boils down to. I grow because I cook because I eat. It's that simple really. I'm never going to be one for ornamental roses, perhaps I have dad to blame for that, and while I sometimes long for something colourful to pick to place in a vase - more likely long for someone to perhaps bring me flowers - I'd rather have red and green and purple and orange things roasting away in my oven.

Just this past week I've roasted carrots with honey and garlic, stuffed zucchini flowers with some leftover ricotta and lightly fried them, the spinach has gone into fritters alongside some random herbs, I even made pesto from the carrot tops.

A few more hot days and I'll be thinking about zucchini recipes, I'm sure. Now I'm getting really excited.

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